David Attenborough, British scientist and TV presenter, has provided us with one of the more intelligent quotes about energy conservation:
“People are not going to care about animal conservation unless they think that animals are worthwhile, and the same thing holds true about energy.”
That is one of the main facts about alternative energy sources. As more and more people are finding out about renewable energy and utilizing it for themselves, they are coming to the conclusion that it is not enough to just use it, they must present the facts about these forms of energy to their family and friends, to show them how incredibly worth they are.
It is vitally important to educate your children, for, after all, they are exactly the reason that we conserve and discover newer, greener, technologies. You could suggest a project about energy next time the kids have a science fair or show-and-tell at school. Your children presenting facts about solar energy or about geothermal energy or about wind energy would not only educate your children, they would be educating their fellow inheritors of the earth, namely, more kids.
Just think a little more about how we have actually always used some alternative sources of energy for centuries without even knowing. A perfect example is solar energy. Did you know that people utilize some form of solar energy nearly everyday without realizing it?
Getting a tan, moving into the sunlight because you feel chilly; in fact, your cat or dog moving into the sun for the same reason, making sun tea, hanging clothes out to dry, letting your newly washed car dry in the sun, planting a garden and anticipating the lovely flowers and vegetables you will raise, even Daylight Savings Time is all about solar power.
Once people can make the connection between solar power and themselves, our dangerous obsession with polluting energy sources such as coal will hopefully diminish.
Truly realizing this fact, and realizing your kid’s inheritance, you may feel a little small and inadequate to make any real change. Not true! Let’s hear what Blythe Danner, the mother of Gwyneth Paltrow, has to say:
“Mostly I spend my time being a mother to my two children, working in my organic garden, raising masses of sweet peas, being passionately involved in conservation, recycling, and solar energy.”
Not a bad way to spend your time, while changing the world with what you can do, and encouraging others to do the same. A bouquet of sweet peas to Blythe!